Controversial Lake Elmo Airport expansion creeps forward after committee endorsement

A controversial proposal to expand Lake Elmo Airport moved to a larger stage Monday when a committee approved the plan and sent it to the full Metropolitan Airports Commission.

Stiff opposition from neighbors and several public officials failed to dissuade members of the MAC's Planning, Development and Environment Committee, who voted unanimously to endorse a staff recommendation for the $11.5 million project.

"The runway is going to be right there in my kids' bedroom," said West Lakeland Township resident Lori Gergen, who attended the hearing.

An overhaul of the regional airport, built in 1951 and bordered by Lake Elmo and the townships of Baytown and West Lakeland, has become urgent because the existing runway is deteriorating and obsolete, said planner Neil Ralston.

The proposal would replace the existing 2,850-foot runway with a new, 3,500-foot runway that would cross a main roadway to the south that some West Lakeland Township residents use to reach their houses. That road, 30th Street N., would be rerouted under the MAC proposal.

A second existing runway, which runs perpendicular to the first, could be extended by about 250 feet.

"We know any realignment of 30th Street North won't be popular with residents," Ralston told the panel.

The proposal is part of a long-term comprehensive plan that Ralston said would fix "failing infrastructure," improve overall airport safety and improve operational capabilities for propeller-driven aircraft with fewer than 10 passenger seats.

Extending the runway is necessary to meet federal aviation regulations for modern aircraft, he said.

Ralston told the committee that the longer runway would lead to a 1 to 2 percent increase in plane traffic annually. He said after the meeting that opponents envision the Lake Elmo Airport becoming a bigger regional airport as a result, and "that's not our intent at all."

Ralston told the committee that 208 residents submitted written comments concerning the proposed expansion, most of them opposing it. Objections included noise, safety, interference with emergency vehicles, and increased travel times on 30th Street N.

Dave Schultz, a member of the West Lakeland Township's board of supervisors, said an expanded airport would lead to declining property values. Planes would be taking off and landing over people's houses instead of farm fields as is the case now, he said.

"We believe this doesn't go far enough in protecting our residents," he said.

Another resident, Vince Anderson, showed committee members photographs of other metro-area airports, including St. Paul Downtown Airport. Commercial development surrounded each of them, but Lake Elmo Airport "is a different airport in a different neighborhood" in the midst of farms and rural housing, he said.

"Personally, I would ask the committee to call this a dumb idea and reject the plan," Anderson said.

But when the time came to vote, the committee sent the recommendation to the full MAC board for review. Should the board approve the plan, it then would go to the Metropolitan Council.

"There is a long road ahead before any actual construction is authorized," Ralston said, projecting that it would happen no sooner than 2019 or 2020.

Gergen said an airport expansion might have worked 50 years ago, but not after an influx of housing in recent decades.

"It's just going to change the whole character of the neighborhood," she said.

Kevin Giles • 651-925-5037